Thomas County cat., 1887-03-17
PORTABLE BRIDGES.

PORTABLE BRIDGES.
A Recent Invention which VIM Prove .
Great Comfort. for Explorer.
The improvements that have been
made within few years in travelling
equipments have greatly increased the
facilities for exploration, while lessen
ing its discomforts. SavOrgnan de
Brazza will soon take back to Africa
the latest invention designed to facili-
tate the work of explorers. II it is as
perfect as its inventors assert, it will
be great boon to African travellers.
One of the greatest impediments to
exploratory work in all tropical re-
gions is the large number of rivers.
big and little, that must be crossed.
An expedition sometimes has to cross
three or four streams in single day.
Often the stream is unfOrdable, and
the party has to walk miles to find
boats OF ford. Where the river can
be forded the explorers pass over on
the shoulders uf their stout carriers.
Sometimes a careless or unfortunate
porter drops box or bundle of valua-
bles in the water. and it is ruined or
lost. Every body will remember the
picture in one Of Stanley's books rep
resenting the explorer as standing on
the bank of a rapid river. aiming his
rifle at one of his porters, whom he
threatens to shoot if he drops his load.
The poor fellow. submerged to his
neck. is struggling slowly along with
Stanley's precious box Of records on
his head.
The French Congo is cut up by al
most innumerable streams. When de
Brazza goes back there he will take
with him two portable bridges. They
are new invention just patented by a
great company of French machinists.
These bridges are each thirty meters,
or about one hundred feet in length,
which exceeds the width of most
African rivers. 1t is asserted that SOL
diers. sailors or natives will be able to
put up one of these bridges complete
in three-quarters of an hour. and that
men, mules and heavily-laden wagons
can safely cross upon them. They are,
of course, G:visible into small pieces,
and can be transported on the backs of
porters across savage and roadless
countries.
Explorers are now more firmly con-
vinced than they used to be of the
necessity of making themselves as
comfortable as the circumstance
will permit. and so they pro-
vide themselves with roomy tents.
iron bedsteads. cork beds. rub
ber bath tubs, folding chairs, portable
tables and other conveniences of civili-
cation. They think, in tropical coun-
tries especially, that any attempt to
rough it more than is actually neces-
sary is simply to invite disaster. The
improvements also that have been
made in their scientific instruments
and food supplies have much facilitated
their work and added to their comfort.
BY the invention of dry gelatine plates
travellers have been able to discard
their rude and inadequate drawings for
the more satisfactory processes Of
photography. The comparatively new
practice Of canning all sorts of provi-
sions is great boon to explorers. 1t
is found even in tropical climates that
canned soups, meats and vegetables
will keep for an almost unlimited
length of time. In this way explorers
now take along for their p.j-
vate table little delicacies which
their predecessors could OF OBJ
tain, and the empty tin cans in
most parts of Africa make very good
money, as the natives regard them as
valuable presents.
In the past fifty years there have not
been any great Improvements in the
geographical instruments used by ex-
p'orers, though in their present form
they are more handy and portable than
they used to be. Modern stem-winding
and water-tight watches are a great
convenience, and SO are portable boats
made in sections, comparatively re-
cent invention.
The greatest advantage, however.
enjoyed by recent travellers is the ease
with which distant parts of the world
are now reached. Fifty years ago we
were one hundred days distant from
the Cape of Good Hope and one hum
dred and fifty days from Bombay. Now
the explorer is not only carried with
celebrity across the sea. but. as rule.
he can make use of modern facilities of
travel almost to the very threshold of
the region he intends to explore.-M.
Y. Sun.